rack one's brain

Etymology
Combination of, and , thus meaning “to cause the mind extreme discomfort”.

Variants include (1583) and, as well as  /.

Verb

 * 1)  To struggle to think of or remember something.

Translations

 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech:
 * Dutch: zich suf piekeren
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish: miettiä päänsä puhki
 * French:, , ,
 * German:
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic: brjóta heilann
 * Italian:, arrovellarsi, lambiccarsi il cervello, spremersi le meningi
 * Japanese: 脳漿を絞る
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:
 * Spanish: devanarse los sesos, romperse la cabeza
 * Turkish:
 * Walloon: ,